Housing Options for the Disability Community
In Episode #77 we chat with Pete Hixson of Beyond Communities a mixed-use development in Woodstock GA which provides a thought-provoking housing model for young adults with disabilities to live, work and grow in urban areas.
Transcript
Marsh Naidoo (00:11):
Hello and welcome to the Raising Kellan Podcast. My name is Marsh Naidoo. I'm a physical therapist as well as parent raising my son, Kellan, a 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. I blog at www.raisingkellan.org, where we curate resources to empower and educate parents raising children with disabilities. This digital platform is a free resource and part of a 5 0 1 (c) 3 nonprofit registered in the state of Tennessee. If you are a business or individual interested in supporting our mission, hop over to the website www.raisingkellan.org where you can see what sponsorship looks like. It is the start of a brand new year. In review last year's big drive was to discuss digital accessibility. A grant from the Tennessee Disability Coalition made it possible to upgrade our website as well as adopt the accessibility feature of including an edited transcript to each podcast episode.
(01:26):
This year, we look to investigate the infrastructure that is in place to help support adults with disabilities such as housing, transportation, education, employment, as well as medical care.
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These conversations may be relevant to the United States, however, they may also benefit and provide value to persons in other geographic locations. As a reminder, the information on the podcast is presented as general education, and if you are seeking advice to your specific situation, then it's best to always contact or consult a trained professional. So the first episode of this year is actually a recording with Pete Hickson from Beyond Communities in Woodstock, Georgia. So without further ado grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up and get ready for some awesome conversation. I have to give a quick shout out to a friend of ours, David Hirsh, whose podcast is called Dad Dad Podcast. And this is part of the Special Father's Network. And this guys is basically a dad to dad mentoring program for dads raising kids with disabilities. I heard your episode Pete on Episode 218 with David. I took so much away from that conversation. And two points were the work that you do at Shepherd's College, which I would like to talk to you at maybe a later time, but the other work that you are currently doing at Beyond Communities. Before we head into that though can you briefly tell us, Pete, just a little bit about yourself?
Pete Hixson (03:38):
Yeah, thank you. And it's really great to be here and I appreciate David and the opportunity to be on his podcast and now get to be with you. So I'm 48, just turned 48. My birthday was the day after Christmas.
Marsh Naidoo (03:58):
Happy belated Birthday!
Pete Hixson (04:01):
Thank you. My wife and I have been married 25 years. Her name's Holly. We have two girls, Hope and Addie. Addie is our youngest. She's 18. Just started at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama as a freshman in college. And then Hope our daughter, who's 21 and is on the spectrum, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age. She's at Shepherd's College, as you just mentioned, and she's a second year student. Would love to talk about that whenever you want to. I grew up in Iowa. My, my dad was a residential construction home builder, a carpenter, you know, like he just built houses and did renovations. And then we grew up on a small hobby farm. I went to college in Virginia. Traveled with some different groups, just got to kind of see a little bit of the country in different ways.
(05:05):
And then met my wife, and that's when we got married in 1997. And we've lived in North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and then Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio. Now we're back to Georgia. So we've lived all over the place. I was a pastor for 20 some years by vocation. Now I feel just as much of a pastor to human beings, which I love. But my occupation's a little different. I do some business coaching, speaking, still do speaking in churches, some other things. And some work with Shepherd's College, as you mentioned. And then our passion is this thing called Beyond Communities. We're trying to build residential communities designed for growth and potential for the I D D (Individuals with Intellectual Dsiabilities)community.
Marsh Naidoo (05:54):
Pete, how did this idea originate? Obviously you saw a need for community such as Beyond Communities, but what kind of sparked you to take action and actually do something about it?
Pete Hixson (06:13):
Yeah, I mean, it was very personal to us. I didn't plan on this, you know, again, I was a pastor for 20 some years. We were just in kind of a transition period. We had moved from Ohio back to Georgia. I was trying to figure some things out, started doing some marketing with a friend and some coaching just to kind of put food on the table and just have a job. And in the midst of that, our daughter Hope was turning 18 getting ready for college. And we were walking towards what everybody knows in this community is what I call the cliff. Yeah. And you know, it's coming, but you're just surviving. And then all of a sudden you can see it and you go, oh, what are we gonna do? You know? And we know there's that transition Academy school period.
(07:01):
Most states it's up to 22, but you're very close to this, and you just, all of a sudden it just kind of hits you like a wall and you go, what are we gonna do? And so it was out of a personal story, out of a need. And then out of, I guess the way I'm wired is just what is not existing that needs to exist. Like what is the problem that needs to be solved? And we've really discovered, without realizing it you know, and, and by the way, what I've learned over the past three years is there are far more residential options than I knew of. I just didn't know of many there, but the bigger need is there just are still not enough. And what I started to discover was we're still living a little bit in this one lump sum kind of world for special needs, whatever term you want to use, but it's hard to serve all the needs of the spectrum when you put everybody in the same place because the needs are so different.
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And so what we need to do, or at least what I started down the path to was how do we curate more niche environments designed for what I'm calling the ability category? Because there's so many categories that we can really reach towards growth and potential. And I'm thankful for all the programs that are out there. But I think we need to start thinking more about to serve an ability or what is called a disability to the highest potential, if that makes sense. And so that's where we just started discovering, all right, what are we gonna do? There's more day programs coming, there's even more post-secondary opportunities coming. There's jobs and the workforce is starting to accept our community a little bit more. Their eyes are being opened. We're realizing they can do more than we thought they could, and we wanna see them reach, but there's still not enough places because most are living with aging parents and there's no long-term plan. And what are we gonna do? And it's a crisis. And so we've gotta figure this out.
Marsh Naidoo (09:20):
This is something a friend of mine, Wendy Smith and I talk often off as well, Pete especially as you said, with aging parents. And perhaps if you don't have immediate family that either lives nearby or is perhaps willing to take on some degree of responsibility, what are the options for our kids or young adults with intellectual disability outside of independent living where a young adult might need intermittent support? There isn't really that bridge gap. So what would this Beyond Community that you guys are proposing perhaps look like?
Pete Hixson (10:12):
Yeah, so the gap we're trying to fill is not necessarily across the lifespan. This gets tough because parents are thinking, well, what after this? But the one that we discovered that is far less being at least attempted, and I am now learning why, because it's not easy. Nothing is easy in this, you know, in this young adult space. And by young adult, I'm not giving an age to it as much as it could be from 25 to 40, 25 to 50, I don't know. But it's more about during this this time of your life, that is a span. In this community are, I mean, my daughter, like she's 21, but I'm around individuals who are 40, maybe 45, and they're 45 is like our 25, you know, it's like, there's just so much life and youthfulness.
(11:09):
So it's not about young adult compared to our neurotypical young adult. You know, it's more about how do we create a time of life for them. I'll paint the picture this way, unfortunately, and unintentionally, I think society sees them as children and then immediately goes straight to like a senior adult. I know no one says that no one means that, but there is not this span of life that we get as a young professional to pursue a career, to get to kinda live a little bit independent. That's the space we're trying to fill. I realize that's not for everyone. And what we're building and what we're creating is not for every ability category. I wish we could serve everyone. My wife challenged me in the beginning when I was like, we gotta do this for everybody, you know?
(12:05):
And, and the truth is, we just feel responsible to do something for the category that what I think God put in our life, which is our daughter, and many like her, and as many to the left and to the right, meaning a little more advanced, a little less advanced but if we can create a niche that's at least taking a slice of the pie, and we're trying to inspire and encourage others to do the same. I've had so many conversations with parents that are saying, well, our child doesn't fit into that one way or the other. What do we do? And I'm just telling them, we just have to create more options and more opportunities because the truth for you and I, it isn't even about how much what our financial situation looks like. We still have options. We could live in this house or that house, or this kind of home where we can move to a town and get a job here.
(12:55):
And you know what I'm saying? I mean, I know there's a lot of nuances around it, but for them it's like, there's literally very few options. We just need more and more options based on an ability category. So that young adult span could be from 25 to 50 whenever they ability out, our desire is to help transition to the next phase of life. And we'll try to start that as early as possible. But what we found is there's more residential programs that are designed a little bit more for a retirement, kind of an assisted living type model than what we're trying to do, which is a little more urban walkabout, live in a community, you know, that kind of a thing. I hope that answers your question, <laugh>.
Marsh Naidoo (13:44):
It does Pete. So I'm trying to envision something in my mind. When you say mixed-residential are you talking about perhaps a workplace being close to a residential unit? How do you all envision or what is the, the dream behind that?
Pete Hixson (14:07):
Yeah, and great question, and I'll get more specific. So our model and desire is to go into, and we have our first location and I'm a very visual person. If I could paint the picture, I would, but I'll try to do it with words. Most areas around the country are taking either an old area and they're refurbishing it, or they're looking at new and they're building this into it. The term is mixed use developments which basically just means there's some residential there, there's some shops there, there's some restaurants there. Sometimes there's a green space for activity. It's basically a mixed use, safe walkabout, if you will type downtown. Sometimes like where we live in Woodstock, Georgia. This place was very different than it is now. It has really evolved and everybody wants to live downtown because there's everything there.
(15:01):
And you can like walk there, live there, da da da, do the whole thing. Well, I tell people we want to live in those kinds of spaces because they're very popular and they have everything right there. They need to live in these spaces. And so our first location, we're building six town homes, right in the dead center of an already existing developed mixed use community where there's a neighborhood behind it, there's office space, there's restaurants, there's shops, there's a big green space with the stage. They do concerts, cornhole tournaments. There's a brewery up the street. It's just all about community involvement. What we are proposing, and what we're building into this is we aren't putting the responsibility on that development, but the subsidiary support that comes along with living in the middle of that is exactly an environment that is perfect for our community.
(16:11):
Our program isn't for everyone I don't even want to call it a program, but our model, I guess isn't for someone coming out of high school. You would've needed to go to some kind of college, you know, couple years of a independent training. Like our daughters going to Shepherd's College. There's a lot of colleges that have programs that are continuing to train and teach. The goal is they will be working during the day as much as they can. And then we will have some permanent residential-like director that will live in one of the town homes. And then our proposition is we'll build six town homes. One will be more for staff, five of them will have residents, four in each. And we'll probably have one for the males and one for the females. Kind of like a guide-mentor, but very much giving them structure, just making sure are they taking their meds, are they getting to work?
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And then we are looking at some with technology today and you know, we all wear these Apple watches that can detect all the safety things. We are going to piggyback on that. And there are some programs out there that are, have these appropriate tracking devices. If you, I say that respectively, that we're not trying to, you know, but we wanna know, we have to monitor as much as possible (safety). Then we are partnering with businesses, churches and the community around it to make sure, okay, is there extra support needed for transportation? Could 40% of our residents work in one of those shops or restaurants that they could literally walk to? So that takes some transportation issues out of the equation. But these mixed use developments need to be surrounded in a community where there are shops and other places and places of employment.
(18:10):
Because the whole goal is that they're living like a young adult as much as possible in with independence that they're going to work. We'll have some programming. But our I idea is we're not building a campus model where you're fenced in and you're at kind of like a college, right? That's for a phase of life. This is for after that, what do you do after that for 10, 15 years? And you build a career, you build relationships. The beautiful part is the merchants, the other residents, you know, this community, they'll get to know them, they'll love them. They'll be another set of eyes and hearts and hands and ears. And that's why it's a lot of subsidiary support. We just feel like it's the perfect type of environment. And then our big dream is we will have Beyond Communities spread across the U.S. So wherever you live, someone could either say or move and say, where could we go where we can find a beyond communities? Because we just founded that model fit for us.
Marsh Naidoo (19:10):
That, that sounds amazing. How would a young adult apply to a program like this? What would be some of the, the pathways to access a resource such as Beyond Communities?
Pete Hixson (19:28):
Yeah, so for us right now, we are connecting with folks. The next step is we will start taking applications. We're not ready for that. We're trying to raise the capital because the other big part of this is the financial picture, right? Yes. We all know this. Unfortunately, for us, our model puts us in the highest expense type real estate. You could get in, you know the townhomes we're building, you could build for 50% of the cost, you know, out in the country, right? But that breaks our model of what we're trying to do, that we're not saying we're the only thing, but what we're trying to do, so we're trying to raise, my goal is we're trying to raise 50% of the capital, and it doesn't have to be a town home we're building. That just happens to be our first location, the next location.
(20:17):
We might buy rent or lease for a long time, you know, 20 units for individuals to live in. But it's the same model. And we're trying to subsidize the, the cost as much as possible, but not free or cheap. It's just, hey, we're trying to make this a more affordable. And we're also looking for residents who wanna work, wanna contribute, wanna make sure, you know and our model, and at least we think in most places, will still allow for whatever government assistance they get to be applied. Because we're not an institution, we're literally a town home. It's rent. And so, you know, I know legislature and all this stuff is kind of changing and it needs to, and we're all working towards allowing, you know, funds to be a little more fluid so that people can live in the places that are best suited for them.
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But right now on our website which is just Beyondcommunities.org, you can just connect with us and then we are just, you know, we have a building list of people who are interested, some more interested, some just checking it out. Many saying, oh my gosh, this is exactly what we've been looking for. And some are, you know, getting into hi, you know, they're in high school, so they're a little young for us, but there's never too early to think about it. Others, their child is 35, they've been living with them. They have a job. You know, I try to describe to people the assessment for us in a snapshot is it's individuals that maybe couldn't live a hundred percent on their own, but they could possibly live 70 to 80% on their own. Maybe 65. I don't really know what the number is, but how do we fill that gap?
(22:05):
And then we're building what I'm calling an appropriate support model that just fills in that gap with, as I've described to you. But we will have an assessment process cuz we don't want to overpromise and under-deliver. This isn't necessarily for everyone with special needs. Like I said, we're not trying to serve the whole pie here. We're trying to take a slice of it and do the best that we can. We're learning some things from folks who have been doing something like this for a long time. One of them is Shepherd's College, where Hope goes. Now it's a three year program, but they have a really great assessment process. They also have an online tool that we're planning for all of our residents to subscribe to so they're can take classes online. We're gonna make sure they're continuing to grow.
(22:58):
You know, you and I can listen to a podcast like this and grow ourselves. We'll read a book and they want to continue growing this community, but they just need a little extra support to do it. And we're gonna make sure that all of those things are happening. So the assessment to get in will be how do we feel like, is this a good fit for everyone? Is this a win? Is this going to be the kind of place? And parents and caregivers are typically the best ones to, to know what that is, you know? That's kind of the idea. We aren't quote taking applications, but we are connecting with a lot of folks and you can do that online with us.
Marsh Naidoo (23:41):
Pete thank you so much for the work that you are doing in this space. Undoubtedly, it's one that, that needs attention and folks need to start thinking of. Are there any words of encouragement you woud like to leave us with?
Pete Hixson (24:03):
Yeah. You know I think as a parent, I understand how difficult it can be and being a parent, in period is, tough, right? Like you're just, to a degree I tell people, you know, you're just surviving and trying to make it day to day. Being a parent in this realm is like putting one log in front of the other to cross an ocean that you don't know if there's another side to, and so sometimes you just feel like it's just, you know, we're gonna drown. What I wanna say is you're not alone. There are people who are coming to the table to solve some long-term problems that I think, again, we've unintentionally just set aside because of our unintentional maybe just didn't see how much there could be. And so early intervention is huge. Whether it's therapies, like do somethingget in a community, be a part of people who are moving the needle forward, not inappropriately, not like, they challenging this community to do something that they aren't able to do.
(25:17):
But I think there is a real need to believe and a real need to believe that more is possible and appropriately just tiptoe into that. And the earlier the better. One of the things we have found that we struggle is parents who have been in this game for a long time and did not have options. And now their children are older and the parents are much older and it's hard to imagine that, oh, they could live independently. And we're just trying to say that there's more possible I guess. And so I wanna encourage folks to realize they're not alone. Take a step in something and if you see a gap that's not being filled, raise your hand and say, we'll fill that gap. You know, as a parent, most things in special needs community, i d d you know, most environments, whether it's post-secondary, residential day programs, work programs, they were all started by parents because we know that what's needed, right?
(26:20):
It's what you're doing. Like this is a need. We just need to encourage people. We gotta get the word out. We gotta make sure we're not, you just start filling that need because you are a product <laugh> of the need. Right? That's true. And so I never thought I would have any sort of a professional, if you will approach to this. I've just always been a parent and I still feel I'm just a parent, but I wanna make a difference. My wife and I want to help and it all comes because of our daughter, but there are so many other struggling like us. And so, you know fill that gap as much as you can.
Marsh Naidoo (26:58):
Pete, for those listeners that would like to reach out and connect with you, what would be the best way to do that?
Pete Hixson (27:07):
Yeah, just email me. It's just pete@beyondcommunities.org.
Marsh Naidoo (27:20):
Pete, once again, thank you so much for your time.
Pete Hixson (27:25):
Thank you so much for having me. It's been wonderful. Great to meet you. I'm so thankful to be here.
Marsh Naidoo (27:32):
Guys, thank you so much for listening along on today's episode. I hope you enjoyed the conversation between myself and Pete. Just as a reminder, we have some really interesting episodes coming along. Soon I will be chatting with Jeff Strand of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, who is going to be informing us of the policies that will be on the table for this upcoming Tennessee General Assembly. So stay tuned for that. Also, Disability Day on the Hill will be coming along soon on March 8, 2023. To find out more about Tennessee Disability Day on the Hill, hop over to www.tndisability.org to find out more about the events being scheduled. As always, if you need to contact us, you can reach us at the following email and that is raisingkellan@gmail.com Do take a look at the new revamped website over@ www.raisingkellan.org and we would appreciate any comments or feedback. We sincerely appreciate a rate and review of this podcast. It does allow us to be found on your podcast platform. And as always, remember, get to the top of your mountain. This is Marsh Naidoo signing off.
